'Net garners plenty of love

Nearly a quarter of the world's population (some 1.4 billion people) will use the internet on a regular basis in 2008. That number is expected to surpass 1.9 billion, or 30 percent of the world's population, in 2012, according to IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast, MarketingCharts reports.

"The internet will have added its second billion users over a span of about eight years, a testament to both its universal appeal and its availability," said John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC.

While the PC is the dominant means of gaining access to the internet, IDC expects the number of mobile devices accessing the internet will surpass the number of online PCs by 2012:

• Users will access the internet through more than 1.5 billion devices worldwide in 2008, including PCs, mobile phones, and online videogame consoles.
• By 2012, the number of devices accessing the internet will double to more than 3 billion, half of which will be mobile devices.

Though Web 1.0 activities like searching, shopping, and sending email will remain popular, Web 2.0 activities, such as watching user-generated videos, posting blogs, and participating in social networks, are quickly capturing the attention and time online of more and more internet users, IDC said.

Among other highlights of IDC's Digital Marketplace Model and Forecast:

• Nearly half of all internet users will make online purchases in 2008. By 2012, there will be more than 1 billion online buyers worldwide making business to consumer (B2C) transactions worth $1.2 trillion. Business to business (B2B) eCommerce will be ten times larger, totaling $12.4 trillion worldwide in 2012.
• Worldwide spending on internet advertising will total $65.2 billion in 2008, which is nearly 10 percent of all ad spending across all media. This share is expected to reach 13.6 percent by 2011 as internet ad spending grows to $106.6 billion worldwide.

MarketingCharts has more findings from the study.